Titian painted the Penitent Magdalene in two versions: his 1531 version shows the saint unclothed and with a sparse background, and his 1565 version shows her clothed and with a skull and book. The present lot is based on Titian's later Penitent Magdalene, now in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, though the face of this figure is instead reminiscent of the face in Titian's earlier Magdalene, now in the Uffizi Gallery.